Child&#39;s hot food dish



March 20, 1951 L w, HATFlELD 2,545,733

CHILD'S HOT FOOD DISH Filed Nov. 30, 1948 Patented Mar. 20, 1951 1UNITED STATES PATENT "OFFICE CHILDS HOT FOOD DISH 7 Lawn W. Hatfield,Los Angeles, cane, assignor to Edgar A. Elkins, Los Angcles, Calif.

Application November 30, 1948, Serial No. 62,757

1 6 Claims. The present. invention relates generally to dishes forfeeding youngchildren, and more particularly to such dishes which areadapted to keep the food warm during the time that it is being consumed.Young children, when learning to feed themselves, usually take aninordinately long time to finish their meal, and as aconsequence'originally hot food isoften cold before the meal isfinished.

To prevent this, it is a common practice to incorporate 'in childrensfeeding :dishes, means for keeping the food warm for a considerablelength of time: Such means usually consist'in an inner, more or less.conventionaL dish to which is attached an outer jacket member which isspaced from'theinner dish toleavean enclosed space surrounding the fooddish. is then filled with hot water when the child is served, whichkeeps-the' food warm for the considerable length of time which theyoungster takes in consuming his serving. I-Iot fOOdrdlShQS of the classjust describedhave often been made with a ceramic inner dish or foodcontainer, and a spun orstamped metal jacket. One difficulty which-oftenarises is in the :means used "to'attach'thejacket to the inner dish. Insuch utensils heretofore available, .the two members are usually joinedat the outer rim of the food container, .all other parts of the twocontainers beingspaced apart to form the-hot water jacket.

The joint between the-outer jacket and the food container must, ofcourse, be water-tight to prevent waterfromescaping from the jacket. Theaforesaid joint can be made water-tight by cementingthe dish and jackettogether, but this is a time-consuming assembly procedure, besideswhich, should it be necessary to replace the dish due to chipping, .itis .difiicult if .not impossible, to remove the broken dish from thejacket. .Furthermore, the differences in coeficient of thermalexpansionof the ceramic inner dish as compared with the metal jacketoften result in cracking any cement or glue used to hold these parts 'together.

Another problem encountered in the type of construction above describedis in the design of the opening through which the water is pouredintothe jacket, and'the closure for'this opening. The water-fillingopening is often made in a flange'of the inner dish and =must,'ofcourse, be provided. with a water-tight closure. Such "a closure isusually provided in the form of a cork which is forced into the openingof the dish. When new a cork of this type will .serve the 'de- Thisspace sired purpose, but after some use, the cork becomes hardened, andas a consequence, loose in the opening, thereafter allowing water toescape from the jacket. Furthermore, if the closure is not secure, thechild can remove the same and following the natural inclination ofchildren to experiment, will often either dump out the water or worseyet, put food into the. jacket from which it is difficult to remove.

Bearing in mind the foregoing discussion, it is a major object of thepresent invention to provide a childs feedingdish of the type having ahot-water jacket which dish may be readily disassembled for replacementof either the jacket or the inner food container. I

It is another objectof the present invention to provide in a dish of theclass described a closure for the water-filling opening, which closureis adapted to remain securely in place, can be removed without theaid ofspecial tools or the like, and which does not deteriorate with age andbe come loose in the opening.

Still another object of the present inventio is to provide a utensil ofthe class described which is simple, relatively inexpensive tomanufacture, and readily assembled without the aid of cement, glue, orother attachment means.

In addition to theabove described objects and advantages, the food'dishdescribed herein incorporates certain features of the feeding dishdescribed in my copending application Serial No.

, 755,504, filed June 18, 1947, and entitled Childs Feeding Dish, whichhas become abandoned.

For a more detailed description of a dish embodying my invention, fromwhich description the foregoing and additional objects and advantageswill appear, reference should now be had to the attached drawings inwhich:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a childs hot food dishincorporating the present inven-'- tion;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the utensil illustrated in Figure 1; I Figure3 is anenlarged elevational view of-a closure member employed in theconstruction shown in Figures 1 'and2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged elevational section taken onthe line 4 i inFigure 2; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged elevational section taken on the line 5-5 inFigure 2.

' In the drawings, I have identified the entire utensil or dishby thereference character i0, and the closure member by the referencecharacter Hi. The dish l0 comprises an inner food container I! of glazedporcelain or similar ceramic material, an outer jacket I of spunaluminum, stainless steel or similar corrosion-resistant metal, aresilient retaining gasket I4 which serves as securing means for holdingthe food container I2 and the jacket I5 together, and a non-skid,nontip, suction cup base member II.

The food container I2 comprises a relatively deep food receptacle 8,separated by division walls 9 into several compartments, as is customarywith childrens dishes, and an outwardly extending horizontal flange I6having a water-filling opening 1 therein, normally closed by the closuremember I3.

The jacket is formed as a bowl having sloping sides shouldered adjacentthe top as indicated at H, and having a substantially vertical top edgeportion. A bezel-like retaining ring 26 is concentrically secured to thebottom of the bowl by spot welding, brazing, or other suitable means.The purpose of the ring 26 is to removably secure the base member I I tothe bottom of the bowl I5.

The food container I2 and the bowl I5 are held together by a gasket ringI 4 which may be a molded ring or extrusion of relatively softrubberlike material, preferably synthetic rubber, in order to resist theaction of soap or grease. The gasket I 4 has, as will be seen in Figure4, an inverted U-shaped cross section, and straddles the upper edge ofthe bowl I5. It will be seen from an examination of Figure 4 that thesurface of the inner arm of the gasket I 4 is slightly tapered, and thatthe outer periphery of the food container flange I6 is complementallytapered, as indicated by the reference character 25. It will be notedthat the direction ofthis taper is such as to retain the food containerI2 in the bowl I5 once it has been pressed thereinto, and to urge thesame downwardly against the shoulder II.

Thus it will be seen that the jacket I5 and the container I2 are easilyand quickly assembled by merely placing the gasket I 4 in the positionillustrated in Figure 4, dropping the container in place, and pressingdownwardly on the flange It to seat it against the shoulder I I. Whenthe container I2 is pressed downwardly in this manner, the material ofthe gasket I4 deforms temporarily to permit the container I2 to movedownwardly into position. Once the container I2 is in position, asillustrated in Figure 4, the gasket I4 springs back, securely retainingit in place and providing a water-tight joint at 25.

Relative thermal expansion and contraction of the jacket and containerI2 is taken up by increase and decrease in the degree of compression ofthe gasket I4 without destroying the efficacy of the water-tight joint.

The water-filling opening, by which water is introduced into the spaceI9 between the container I2 and the jacket I5, is formed in the flangeI6, as indicated by the reference character 1 in Figure 2. The opening'I is flared inwardly, as illustrated in Figure 5.

The closure member I3 comprises a hollow body 2I of resilient materialsimilar to that of the gasket I4. The upper portion of the body 2| issheathed with a metal cap 20, and the lower portion is tapered, as bestseen in Figures 3 and 5. On the exterior of the lower tapered bodyportion 2| is a helical thread 22, molded integrally with the body 2 I.

Thus, it will be seen that by inserting the lower end of the body 2|into the opening I, and rotating the closure member I3 by means of thecap 20, the closure I3 may be screwed securely into place. The hollowinterior 24 0f the bo y 2! permits inward deformation of the body 2 I,thus maintaining a tight seal in the opening I, while still permittingrelatively easy removal of the closure member I3. It is unnecessary toprovide a corresponding thread in the opening 'I, inasmuch as theresiliency of the material of the plug body 2I permits deformation toaccommodate the thread to the opening.

It will be seen from an examination of Figure 4 that the ring member 26forms an annular, inwardly facing, undercut groove at the bottom of thebowl I5. The base member II, which is also constructed of relativelysoft rubber or synthetic rubber, has formed therein an overhangingflange-like member 21, which is positioned and adapted to be received inthe groove between the ring 26 and the bottom of the jacket I5. Due tothe deformable nature of the base member I I, the latter may be snappedinto place in the ring 26, yet is removable if such removal is desired.The bottom surface of the base member II is formed with a downwardlyfacing concavity 28 so that by placing the utensil I I) on a smooth,flat surface and pressing downwardly thereon, the entire device may bemade to adhere to the surface by the vacuum created in the concavity 28.

Thus, it will be seen that a utensil is provided which is readilydisassembled or assembled, should it become necessary to replace any ofthe parts thereof, and in which the closure member I3 may be readilyinserted or removed by a screwing or unscrewing rotation thereof.

While the device shown and described herein is fully capable ofachieving the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated,it will be realized that it is capable of considerable modificationwithout departing from the spirit of the invention. For this reason, Ido not mean to be limited to the form shown and described, but rather tothe scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a food dish of the class described: a food container having afood-receiving bowl with an outwardly extending flange formed at the topedge thereof, the periphery of said flange having a downwardly andoutwardly sloping conical surface; a bowl-shaped jacket spaced from saidcontainer and surrounding the same, said jacket having a substantiallyvertical top edge portion and an internal shoulder formed below saidedge portion whereby to support said container with said flange restingon said shoulder; and a ring-shaped gasket secured to said jacket edgeportion, said gasket having a re-entrantly sloped inner surfacesubstantially congruent to, and in contact with said conical surface andbeing compressed between said jacket and conical surface whereby toremovably retain said flange against said shoulder and provide awater-tight joint at said periphery.

2. The construction of claim 1 further characterized by having anopening formed in said flange whereby to introduce a fluid into thespace between said container and jacket.

3. In a food dish of the class described: a bowlshaped jacket having acircular bottom and a substantially vertical top edge portion; a foodcontainer within said jacket having its side walls inwardly spacedtherefrom and having an outwardly extending flange at the top edgethereof; a resilient gasket radially compressed between said top edgeportion of said jacket and the periphery of said flange whereby toremovably retain said container in said jacket; a bezel-like ringsecured to the bottom of said jacket whereby to form an inwardly facingannular groove; and

a downwardly facing suction cup base substantial- 1y equal in diameterto the bottom of said jacket and having a boss with an outward flangeintegrally formed in the upper surface thereof, said flange beingreceived in said groove whereby to removably secure said base to saidjacket.

4. A hot food dish of the class described c0mprising in combination: afood container having a food-receiving bowl with an outwardly extendingflange formed at the top edge thereof, the periphery of said flangehaving a downwardly and outwardly sloping conical surface and saidflange having an inwardly flared opening formed therethrough; abowl-shaped jacket spaced from said container and surrounding the same,said jacket having a substantially vertical top edge portion and. aninternal shoulder formed below said edge portion whereby to support saidcontainer with said flange resting on said shoulder; a ring-shapedgasket having an inverted U-shaped cross-section positioned with thearms of said U straddling said top edge portion of said jacket, theinner arm of said gasket being tapered outwardly substantially congruentwith said conical surface and in pressure contact therewith whereby toremovably retain said flange against said shoulder and provide awater-tight seal at said periphery; a bezel-like ring secured to thebottom of said jacket whereby to form an inwardly facing annular groove;a downwardly facing suction cup base having a resilient flange formed inthe upper surface thereof and received in said groove whereby toremovably secure said base to said jacket; and a tapered, hollow closuremember of resilient material in said opening, said closure member havingan external helical thread integrally formed therewith whereby tofacilitate removal of said member by twisting the same.

5. In a food dish of the class described: a food container having afood-receiving bowl with an outwardly extending flange formed at the topedge thereof; a bowl-shaped jacket member spaced from said container andsurrounding the same, said jacket member having a substantially verticaltop edge portion, and an internal shoulder below said top edge adaptedto support said container by said flange; and a ring-shaped gasketsecured to said top edge portion and having a 6 portion of downwardlyconverging wedge-shaped cross-section radially compressed between thesame and the periphery of said flange whereby to removably retain thesame against said shoulder.

6. In a food dish of the class described: a ceramic food containerhaving a food-receiving bowl with an outwardly extending flange formedat the top edge thereof; a bowl-shaped jacket member spaced from saidcontainer and surrounding the same, said jacket member having asubstantially vertical top edge portion, and an internal shoulder belowsaid top edge adapted to support said container by said flange; andradially compressed resilient yielding means having a portion ofdownwardly converging wedgeshaped cross-section positioned between saidedge portion and the periphery of said flange whereby to removablyretain the same against said shoulder.

LORAN W. HATFIELD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 797,314 Owens Aug. 15, 19051,045,101 Wojidkow Nov. 19, 1912 1,429,783 Scott Sept. 19, 19221,499,364 Goodrick July 1, 1924 1,587,874 Strickland June 8, 19261,784,516 Fairbanks Dec. 9, 1930 2,086,357 Farber July 6, 1937 2,090,182Burpee Aug. 17, 1937 2,187,426 Kuhnel Jan. 16, 1940 2,210,183Schweighart Aug. 6, 1940 2,332,173 Shaffer Oct. 19, 1943 2,398,060 VanAlstyne Apr. 9, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 20,313 GreatBritain Sept. 17, 1902 5 375,482 Great Britain June 30, 1932 664,424France Apr. 23, 1929 830,881 France May 23, 1938 207,335 Germany Feb.24, 1909

